The Desperadoes (1943). Cast: Randolph Scott and Glenn Ford. It was the first Columbia Pictures production to be released in Technicolor.
When the bank is robbed in the small town of Red Valley, Utah, banker Stanley Clanton offers to repay fifty percent of his depositors' losses. Unknown to the town, Clanton has masterminded the bank robbery with Uncle Willie McLeod, the town postmaster and stable owner. Uncle Willie, is furious with Clanton for hiring Jack Lester, who killed three men during the robbery.
While looking for the bank robbers, sheriff Steve Upton, stops to water his horse. A man approaches from behind him and demands his horse at gunpoint. The man is Cheyenne Rogers, the gunslinger hired by Uncle Willie to rob the bank. Cheyenne, rides into town and at the stable meets Uncle Willie's daughter, Allison McLeod. Allison, is charmed by cowboy, who now calls himself, Bill Smith.
Cheyenne, heads for the saloon , where he meets "The Countess," his childhood friend. The Countess, does not believe that he will ever be able to "go straight".
Soon they hear explosion, then Nitro Rankin, Cheyenne's partner walks in with a injured his leg from the blast and Cheyenne refuses to leave town until his partners leg has healed. Later that night, when Cheyenne returns to the stables to see Allison, Steve is waiting to arrest him. When Steve recognizes the horse thief as his old friend Cheyenne, he invites him for a drink. As they walk toward the saloon, Uncle Willie recognizes Cheyenne as the man he hired to rob the bank advises him to leave town.
When the bank is robbed again, Cheyenne becomes, the prime suspect and his friend seems to be the only one who believes in his innocence.
One of my favorite scenes is, during the cow stampede started by a blast of nitro, used as a distraction while Cheyenne, rushes to help the wrongly imprisoned sheriff. Wonderful performances from a cast including: Edgar Buchanan, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Raymond Walburn and Irving Bacon as a bartender whose saloon keeps getting destroyed during fights.
Randolph Scott(January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) career spanned from 1928 to 1962. Scott performed in many types of genres, including: dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals, adventure tales, war films, horror and fantasy films. He is best known for his image as the Western hero. Out of his more than 100 film performances more than 60 were in Westerns.
Showing posts with label glenn ford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label glenn ford. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Texas (1941).
Texas (1941). Cast: Glenn Ford and William Holden. Directed by George Marshall.
The story begins when, Dan Thomas and Tod Ramsey, two cow pokes who served in the Confederacy together, meet railroad promoter Windy Miller, when he pays their trespassing fine. To pay off their debt, Tod agrees to fight professional boxer Dutch Henry, who breaks his leg while jumping into the ring.
Soon after, while riding on the trail to Texas, they witness a gang of outlaws holding up a stage. The two cow pokes ambush the robbers and take the money, which Tod wants to return but Dan wants to keep. While Dan rides off to find dinner, the sheriff rides up with his posse and finds Tod with the stolen money. Just as the posse is about to lynch Tod, Dan rides in, saying that they are being attacked by Indians. Dan and Tod are able to escape, then decide to go their separate ways . The two friends do not see each other again for a long time. When they do meet up again, they find themselves on different sides of the law, where they may find themselves in a stand off.
I thought the film Texas, was a wonderful western, with two young superstars, William Holden and Glenn Ford. Two young cowpokes competing for the same girl, played by Claire Trevor. Also enjoyed seeing veterans George Bancroft and Edgar Buchanan. The film, blends humor and drama which makes for a good western.
Claire Trevor (March 8, 1910 – April 8, 2000) was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir", because of her many performances as a "bad girl”. She performed in over 60 films.
Her first credited film role was in the film, Life in the Raw(1933), with her feature film debut coming that same year in Jimmy and Sally (1933).
In 1937, she starred with Humphrey Bogart in the film, Dead End, which would lead to her being nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Some of her most memorable performances were opposite John Wayne, including the film, Stagecoach(1939), which was Wayne's breakthrough role. She also starred opposite Wayne in the film, Allegheny Uprising that same year, and again in the film, Dark Command (1940). Over a decade later, she would again costar with Wayne, gaining her final Oscar nomination for the film, The High and the Mighty.
Two of Trevor's memorable roles were starring opposite Dick Powell in the film, Murder, My Sweet and Born to Kill. She performed in the film, Key Largo, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Trevor moved into supporting roles in the 1950s, with her performances becoming increasingly rare after the mid-1960s. She played Sally Field's mother in the film, Kiss Me Goodbye (1982). She made a special appearance at the 70th annual Academy Awards in 1998.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Glenn Ford

Glenn Ford's breakthrough role was in 1946, performing with Rita Hayworth in Gilda. He went on to perform with Rita Hayworth in a total of five films.
Ford had a successful career in the 1950s and into the 1960s and continued into the early 1990s. He is best known for thrillers, dramas and action films including A Stolen Life with Bette Davis, The Secret of Convict Lake with Gene Tierney, The Big Heat, Blackboard Jungle, Framed, Interrupted Melody with Eleanor Parker, Experiment in Terror with Lee Remick, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Superman and westerns: The Fastest Gun Alive, 3:10 to Yuma and Cimarron. Ford also performed in a number of popular comedies, such as The Teahouse of the August Moon, Don't Go Near the Water, The Gazebo, Cry for Happy and The Courtship of Eddie's Father.
Fred Silverman head of CBS noticed that many of the featured films being shown at a Glenn Ford film festival were westerns. He suggested doing a western series, Cade's County. Ford played Sheriff Cade for one season (1971–1972).
List of Glenn Ford Westerns:
Border Shootout (1990)
Punch and Jody (1974) (TV)
Santee (1973)
Jarrett (1973) (TV)
"Cade's County" .... Sam Cade (24 episodes, 1971-1972)
Heaven with a Gun (1969)
Smith! (1969)
Day of the Evil Gun (1968)
The Last Challenge (1967)
A Time for Killing (1967)
Rage1966)
The Rounders (1965
The Gazebo (1959)
The Sheepman (1958)
Cowboy (1958)
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
The Americano (1955)
The Man from the Alamo (1953)
The Secret of Convict Lake (1951)
The Redhead and the Cowboy (1951)
Lust for Gold (1949)
The Loves of Carmen (1948)
The Man from Colorado (1948)
The Desperadoes(1943)
Men Without Souls (1940)
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence(1939)
The Secret of Convict lake(1951).

The Secret of Convict Lake (1951). Black-and-white western film. Director: Michael Gordon Produced: Frank P. Rosenberg and music by Sol Kaplan. The film was a critical and commercial success for Ford and Tierney.
Unusual Western with a wonderful atmosphere with the black-and-white cinematography of the snowy setting. A group of five escaped convicts led by Glenn Ford and Zachary Scott, travel with the law not far behind, through the mountains during a snow storm. The convicts find a small town populated only with women, who have learned to defend themselves from outsiders.. The women agree to let the convicts stay in town, under armed guard, until the storm is over and then they must leave. The men agree but the trouble begins when they learn that one of the convicts may have left a lot of money in the area. The women guard the men at gun point and wait for the town's men to return. The barn is accidentally set on fire and the men jump in and help put out the fire, which breaks down the barrier if only for a few short moments. Canfield finds Marcia, where she pleads with him not to kill Rudy because he has been so kind to her. Canfield confesses that he did kill Morgan,(the real embezzler who he took the rap for)in self-defense, he did not steal his money or kill him in cold blood, as Rudy had testified. Canfield then wonders if Marcia is marrying Rudy out of gratitude rather than love, and unable to deny their attraction, they kiss. Marcia then asks Canfield not to kill Rudy, for her sake as well as his, but Canfield believes that it is too late.
The film tells a fictional history of the real-life location, Convict Lake.
Two other important female roles are those of Ann Dvorak as Tierney's prospective sister-in-law and Ethel Barrymore as, the matriarch of the settlement.
The finale is wonderful, the posse arriving on the scene just as the townsfolk are holding services over five graves... are they all the fugitives ?
I thought the film was very well-acted. Also I thought a very under-appreciated film, which reminded me of the western classics: THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943) and YELLOW SKY (1948).
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